The African Continental Free Trade Area, is a project driven by the African Union to eliminate 90% of tariffs on intra-Africa trade of goods and services and create a single continental market with free movement of business people - with 44 of the 55-member African Union having signed the deal. Intra-Africa trade currently stands at about 16% of the continent’s total, compared with 19% in Latin America and 51% in Asia. Among those who have not yet signed are Botswana, Lesotho, Namibia, Nigeria, and South Africa.

Countries such as South Africa and Kenya with larger manufacturing bases and better road networks, railways and ports are most likely to benefit from further regional integration. However, Nigeria fears that the free-trade area would open up Nigeria to the dumping of cheap products and cause job losses if the demand for locally produced goods falls.